A year ago today I married the beautiful Holly in New York’s Central Park. What a day that was, a mixture of bliss, joy, and anxiety. No, I wasn't anxious about marrying her, nor did it have anything to do with fear that one of our guests would get awkwardly drunk and start removing their clothes (although that would have made for an interesting blog post). It was about rain on our wedding day.

While marital lore says this brings good luck, the approaching storm looked like anything…

Cans work well for beans and vegetables but fail miserably in sales. Yet, many sales organizations mandate that salespeople memorize or read specific soundbites designed for specific situations. Would you want to be on the receiving end of one of these impersonal, canned statements? This type of sales practice is just one of many reasons why people dislike hearing a sales pitch.

In Sales Yoga, we practice the art of Integrative Questioning to build rapport, develop…

It’s a hot summer day with no perceptible breeze. Lying across the way is a haphazard pile of debris, having been blown into what almost looks like a small pyramid. A spotlight of sun, the size of a small flashlight beam, suddenly appears on the pile, having been channeled by a pane of window glass. Suddenly, a burst of flame erupts as the wood, grasses, and other assorted…

If people aren’t always doing what they are supposed to do, what’s a leader to do?

To help you and your organization, I’m launching a new newsletter this Tuesday, May 21st. CalledTake No Prisoners, this free weekly memo explores how Radical Accountability prospers companies and changes lives. Instead of taking people hostage…

“Yoga is almost like music in a way; there’s no end to it.” — Sting

Selling, like yoga, is almost like music as there is never an end to it, if it’s being done right. Yet, so many salespeople engage in a stop-start mentality in their sales practice. They start selling, land a few good prospects or customers, try to leverage them for all they are worth, then find themselves back at the beginning of having to start selling again. It’s little wonder that so many salespeople are not…

During an advising call with a client this week, she reported lackluster performance by one of her company’s locations. As we dug into the issue, it became clear that the members of the sales team were fishing with the wrong net.

Salespeople have the equivalent of nets in their sales efforts. Some use wide nets, like those on a shrimp boat, that bring in many possibilities, allowing them to pick and choose the best customers. Others employ the equivalent of a small aquarium net,…

I’m proud to acknowledge the efforts and results of my clients in this new feature I’m affectionately calling a Standing Ovation.

This month’s Standing Ovation Goes to Amy in Minnesota. Amy is a senior leader in a manufacturing services firm servicing the Twin Cities. As a result of her commitment to Radical Accountability, which has been a focus in our work together, Amy has successfully doubled the size of the sales team in a market where finding…

In just four days, over five million people have viewed the YouTube video of the musical couple featured on Pumpcast News. This hilarious feature shows what happens when a television monitor, normally displaying broadcast news and advertisements over a gas pump, is converted into an interactive video conference for the benefit of The Tonight Show audience. So enthralled were the producers of…

Each week, I feature companies, organizations, industries, and even individuals who exemplify the power of Radical Accountability (the Heroes who have committed to an unwavering responsibility for getting done what really matters most) and the need for it (the Zeroes).

HEROES

Grand Geneva Resort (Lake Geneva, WI)

For your outstanding service and commitment to excellence this week. The entire…

In a brief chat this past weekend a friend shared details of her daughter’s whining about her current circumstances. Being the ever confident and highly competent mom, she did not allow Molly to pull her down into the clutches of a victim spiral. Instead, she pointed out that, while not everything about the situation was of Molly’s making, she had done nothing to try and rectify the problem.

While there are real victims of crimes, even people who have been impacted by some of the most…

Welcome to this new weekly series. Each week, I’ll feature companies, organizations, industries, and even individuals who exemplify the power of Radical Accountability (the Heroes who have committed to an unwavering responsibility for getting done what really matters most) and the need for it (the Zeroes).

The…

Earlier this week, a salesperson told me about a difficult conversation she was about to have with a client. In asking for my advice, she said there was a chance this customer will ask for a price reduction and that she’d have to do a “dog and pony show” to convince them to keep working with her at the current rate.

I told her she needed to “kill the dog and corral the pony.” As you may suspect, there was a long pause on the other end of the phone after such a startling…

An often overlooked quality in new hires is their laziness. If you hire more good, lazy people, you’ll find that this is one of the fastest ways to grow your business. Surprised? If so, that’s not a surprise as most hiring managers look at laziness as a detriment instead of the attribute it can be when the right people with lazy streaks are hired strategically in your organization.

Traits, including laziness, can be applied for good or for evil. This all depends on the motives of the…

Our televisions were filled with scenes normally reserved for Hollywood and make-believe: gun wielding SWAT teams, military Humvees bristling with weaponry, shots fired, suspects killed and apprehended. A terrible tragedy that started with bombs ended with bittersweet triumph. A job well done. A commitment for justice met.

This is Radical…

Think about a recent sales experience where you did not get the deal.   In retrospect, could you have gotten that “No 

thanks” because you asked the wrong questions that unnecessarily limited the conversation? The right questions, at the right time, asked in the right way are the essence of being…

After two hours of singing, dancing, and acting, the cast of Newsies was still smiling, as were my wife, Holly, and I. They had just delivered, and we had just watched, one of the best shows we've seen on Broadway in the past decade.

Did one or more cast members dance out of step, flub a line, or sing slightly out of tune? Did the crew miss a cue, misplace a prop, or misdirect a…

A year ago my son Benjamin wrote the following poem. This wasn’t at school nor was it for an assignment. While in our hotel in NYC, he grabbed a scratchpad and jotted this down in a matter of minutes.

I’ve always been of the opinion that our children were sent here to teach us more than we have to teach them. I hope Ben’s poem teaches you, inspires you, and propels you into action today. I know stumbling across this over the weekend did just that for me.

Go and Live Your Best…

The longer you talk, the more people tune out.  Replace pitches (one-way communication) with Provocative Launching Questions (two-way communication) if you want to engage people and capture and keep their interest.

Be a coach, not a critic. Instead of telling yourself what you did wrong; tell yourself how you can do it right. Shape your performance instead…

A few days before arriving here in Copper Mountain, Colorado for our Spring Break ski trip, I asked my sixteen year old son if he thought he still remembered all of his skills. “It’s been five years Ben,” I said. “How do you think you’ll do?”

“Are you kidding,” he said. “All I gotta do is pizza and french fries.”

For those who don’t know what Ben was referring…